Hard-Keeper & Cough

Hey you guys,

Hard-Keeper & Cough. Doesn't that sound just lovely?

Our little appendix named Yoda has been a size 3-4 since winter. He was originally on 1 scoop of oats, 1 scoop of corn, 2 flakes of hay in pm, 1 in the am. The hay would change depending on if they ate it all or not.

I up his feed to 2 scoops oats, 1 scoops corn, 2 pumps of veggie oil, scoop of alfalfa cubes. Hay still ranged. NO ridding because he was just too bony.

That was in march...The past few months we have been giving him...:clears throat: (Each scoop is like 3 cups? ) 1 scoop of oats, 1 scoop of corn, 2 scoops of rice bran, 3 scoops of senor feed, 3 pumps of oil, and the rest of the 5 gallon bucket filled with cubes. Take all that into his bucket...add water until it is a good mix. He lost his winter fur gained a minute amount of weight but still has high withers, high backbone, and ribs showing.

I do ride now and have taken him on a few trails. He was vetted and had his twice a year check up, dewormer, worm test, etc etc. He acualy did not have worms. and was cleared health wise. But the weight had to go up...which was why I upped his food so high over the last few months.

So...My question now is how long before I do something different? He's been on the 2 scoops of bran for the past 4-5 weeks.

Also...My mini won't loose weight. He's on a pasture & Hay diet and gets free handed in lunging once or twice a week. Anything else I can do to get him to loose weight? The pasture is pretty bare so he's not getting alot from that.

That doesn't sound like enough hay even if the quality is excellent. Maybe it's OK if he is on good pasture, really good pasture.
I've fattened a TB with quality hay, heavy on the alfalfa & feeding every 6 hours around the clock, a balanced commercial pelleted grain & a pelleted fat supplement. This was in winter so there was no pasture.

ETA: Remember a horse's stomach only holds like 1-1/2 gallons so smaller more frequent meals are best.

I agree---think like a horse. Do you evet see skinny horses in the wild? Not unless they have something wrong with them health wise. In their natural enviromment, they eat all forage all the time....however, for horses who are in heavy work the ratio should be 80% hay and 20% hard feed, which doesn't sound like your current feed plan.

My hard keeper gets 8lbs of alfalfa, 5lbs of timothy, and a ration balancer and 1 scoop of cool calories. We JUST started him on the weight supplement so I can't give you comparison photos, but I'll get back to you in two weeks lol. He is also on 24/7 grass turn out so guarenteed he always has some type of forage in his mouth.
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Hey again,

Sorry for the lack of posts. Had a my first ever ridding accident.

I forgot to mention that Yoda gets 4-5 flakes of hay NOW. We basically give enough that they are eating it all and not leaving wastage. He's been eating every bit of his food, even his breakfast 3 flakes of hay.

Also..the hay is a mixture of bluegrass, alfalfa, and orchard? I think is the last mix. Plus the cubes.

Check out my accident post. It was something else I tell you.